EP3230539B1 - Method for erecting a tubular tower construction and tubular tower construction - Google Patents

Description

The invention relates to a method for erecting tubular tower structures.

Tubular tower structures are known, in particular as supports for wind turbines. In this context, it is known in particular to manufacture tube sections from sheet steel and to assemble the tube sections one above the other with circumferential weld seams to form a tube tower which accommodates a wind energy nacelle at its upper end. In order to connect the individual segments to one another, it is known to either weld them or to provide them with circumferential flanges lying on top of one another in such a way that the flanges lying on top of one another can be screwed together.

In addition, it is known to form tower structures of this type from partial shells, the partial shells having flanges on their longitudinal edges, with which these partial shells are screwed to one another.

From the WO 2011/092235 A2 a wind turbine tower segment is known, which is also designed as a shell segment and consists of a reinforced concrete body, with two joints for attaching to joints of at least one other tower segment and in the reinforced concrete body in the area of each joint at least one connecting body is embedded and anchored therein for connection to a connecting body of a adjacent tower segment and the connecting body has a fastening wall arranged essentially parallel to the respective joint for receiving a transverse to the joint and transverse to the fastening wall directed tensile load. A disadvantage of such a device is that it is relatively expensive to cast concrete shells of this type and also to produce them with a precise fit and dimensions. Furthermore, the dismantling of such reinforced concrete towers is quite complex and expensive.

From the DE 10 2010 039 796 A1 discloses a tower with an adapter piece and a method for producing a tower with the adapter piece, in which case a lower tubular tower section is also made of concrete and an upper tubular tower section is made of steel. Such hybrid towers are currently preferred for the construction of particularly high wind turbine towers, since the concrete substructure allows for large diameters and conventional wind turbine towers can be placed on top of the substructure towers in this way in order to achieve greater heights and thus a better wind yield. The disadvantage here, however, is that the dismantling of a concrete tower is relatively expensive and the assembly effort for concrete towers is relatively high, in particular due to the concrete delivery.

From the WO 2010/121630 A2 discloses a tower for a wind turbine with a plurality of corner posts to form a customized construction, the corner posts each being composed of a plurality of partial profiles connected to one another. In this case, the corner posts are each composed of several partial profiles connected to one another in such a way that connection areas are formed on adjacent partial profiles, which, however, are bent out of the partial profiles. The disadvantage of this embodiment is that it makes precise and quick work more difficult.

From the DE 10 2009 058 124 B4 a concrete substructure for the tower of a wind turbine is also known.

From the DE 10 2011 011 603 A1 is a lifting device for lifting heavy components or plant parts, especially known offshore plants.

From the DE 203 21 897 U1 a wind turbine is known with a stationary vertical mast or tower on which the movable part of the wind turbine is arranged, the mast consisting at least partially of prefabricated wall parts, with several adjacent wall parts forming a substantially ring-shaped mast section. In this case, the wall parts or segments are constructed from reinforced concrete or another stone-like material and are already prefabricated. The concrete elements are fastened to one another with the start of tension.

From the DE 10 2011 001 250 A1 discloses an apparatus and method for transitioning between a steel tower section and a prestressed concrete tower section.

From the DE 10 2011 077 428 A1 a wind turbine tower is known with a plurality of prefabricated tower segments, each of which has an upper and lower horizontal flange, one of the plurality of tower segments having at least two longitudinal flanges, each longitudinal flange having a first side for laying against a first side of another longitudinal flange and a second Has side, which is laterally welded to the lateral surface, wherein the second side of the first side is opposite.

From the DE 11 2010 005 382 T5 a wall section for a wind turbine tower is known, the wall section comprising a first wall segment and a second wall segment, and a connecting element which has a first surface section which is attached to the first wall segment and turns into a first direction, a second surface portion attached to the second wall segment and extending in a second direction, and an intermediate portion having an intermediate surface portion extending transverse to the first direction and transverse to the second direction, the connecting member thereby T- is shaped and is placed on a corresponding wall or two abutting walls and is fastened thereto with bolts which protrude through the wall.

From the DE 10 2013 002 469 A1 a tubular steel tower of a wind turbine is known, this wind turbine being able to have a substructure tower, this substructure tower having deep-drawn flanges deformed in several planes, which are intended to ensure tongue and groove connections both axially and radially. In addition, additional metal sheets are welded in the area of the substructure tower, resulting in a double-hull construction.

From the KR 10-1242505 a wind energy tower is known in which the longitudinal flanges are screwed together, with spacer plates being able to be used between the longitudinal flanges.

From the DE 603 17 372 T2 large-sized towers for wind turbines and methods for building them are known, in which case longitudinal flanges are welded onto the outer walls of the tower from the inside and connected to one another.

From the U.S. 2012/0137620 A1 An arrangement of a wind energy tower on a foundation is known, with a T-shaped base of the tower being held on the ground by annular holding segments.

From the EP 2 282 051 A2 the arrangement of a wind energy nacelle on a concrete tower is known.

From the EP 2 388 479 A1 the connection of a base tower adapter to a tower of a wind turbine is known.

From the EP 2 188 467 B1 discloses a tower, particularly for supporting telecommunications equipment, which tower consists of a plurality of planar sheets having outwardly facing flanges formed with reinforcing sheets.

Known substructure towers made of concrete have the disadvantage that erection is expensive and complex, and dismantling after the period of use is complex and expensive. WO 2009/097858 A1 discloses a method of erecting a tubular tower structure according to the preamble of claim 1 and also a tubular tower structure according to the preamble of claim 9. WO 2010/055535 A1 , U.S. 7,464,512 B1 , KR 2012 0073785 A and EP 1 561 883 A1 reveal more tubular tower structures.

The object of the invention is to create a method with which tower structures of this type can be erected inexpensively, quickly and with high precision and accuracy of fit, which are particularly stable and have a low natural frequency.

This object is achieved with a method having the features of claim 1.

Advantageous developments are characterized in the subclaims dependent thereon.

Another object is to create a tubular tower structure for wind turbines that can be erected more quickly. This problem is solved with a tubular tower structure having the features of claim 9 .

Advantageous developments are characterized in the subclaims dependent thereon.

A tubular tower structure according to the invention serves in particular as a substructure tower in order to place a conventional tower for accommodating wind turbines and thereby achieve a greater height and thus better wind accessibility.

For greater heights of such tower structures, it is necessary to increase the tower cross section, since only then can the required stability and buckling safety be achieved. Such towers are usually constructed from tower segments with a circular cross-section, placed one on top of the other and connected to one another. Due to the usual bridge height in Germany, very large tower cross-sections from one-piece pipe sections or pipe segments can no longer be realized.

In order to maintain the passage height, it is necessary to assemble such very wide towers with a diameter of more than 4.5 m at the base from partial shells, i.e. ring segments, to form a complete ring and - if necessary - to stack several of these rings on top of each other.

In principle, it is known to create such so-called longitudinally oriented shells and to assemble these shells at the installation site to form a tube. However, it has been found here that the precision is so poor and the tolerances are so large that assembly is very often delayed and made unnecessarily difficult. In addition, known shell constructions are not so stable that they would be suitable for tubular tower structures of great height.

In addition, it is known to create longitudinally oriented shells in which multiple formed and in particular deep-drawn flanges are present, which are directed towards the inside of the tower and run essentially axially. These flanges should result in a form fit between the longitudinally oriented shells in the radial direction in the manner of a tongue and groove principle, but should also ensure such a fit in the axial direction. To do this, the sheets have to be deformed in several axes, which is only possible with deep drawing. The disadvantage here was that the precision required to be able to assemble these towers at all can only be achieved if relatively thin metal sheets are used. In order to bring about stabilization here, these longitudinally oriented shells are designed as double-walled shells, which, however, results in a significantly higher construction effort and also requires reworking.

According to the invention, the tubular tower structure is made of tubular segments, which are made of longitudinally oriented shells, so that the tubular tower structure is erected in partial lengths that can still be transported or, if the length is still transportable, in its full length. For this purpose, corresponding webs or blanks are made from sheet steel, which are then formed into the curved shells in small folding steps, so that they form a tube segment when combined with other shells.

These longitudinally oriented shells are thus formed from a large number of individual surfaces which are folded over relative to one another. For example, a curved shell consists of 5 to 30, in particular 10 to 20, mutually beveled surfaces, the beveled surfaces corresponding to the shell width and thus the partial circumference that each shell has with respect to a tubular tower structure represents, between 1 ° and 8 ° and in particular between 3 ° and 6 ° are bent at an angle to each other.

The material thicknesses used for the shells are between 20 mm and 100 mm, in particular between 40 mm and 100 mm.

The longitudinal or high edges of the shells are oversized in relation to the width of the shell (or the partial circumference of a pipe segment caused by it). This interference becomes simple radially inward or radially outward, i. H. not deformed multiple times or in itself, folded and forms a flat, straight connecting flange for connecting to adjacent shells to create a tube or tube segment.

The edging angle of the respective radially inwardly or radially outwardly pointing flange of the respective directly adjacent folded planar area of the outer shell wall naturally depends on the number of shells from which the entire circular tower cross section is created.

In this context, radial means perpendicular to the circumference of the tubular body composed of the shells.

Further pipe segments can be placed on top of this and welded at horizontal edges until a pipe section or a complete pipe tower structure is formed. Alternatively, a connection can be made via horizontal annular flanges. The necessary holes for inserting bolts and screwing the flanges of adjacent shells are made in the beveled flanges, for example by drilling or burning, in particular with a laser.

It has been shown that with steel plates of the thickness of 20 mm to 100 mm, as used for substructure towers, a fold allows very precise connections and the connections are very economical both through the fold itself and through the subsequent creation of the holes can be generated. In particular, bending the outer wall of the shells at small bending angles results in very precise curvatures with a high degree of inherent rigidity.

In addition, it has been found that a chamfer, especially with panels of this thickness (20 mm to 100 mm), is particularly low-stress and stable, whereby the combination of panel thickness and chamfer means that the screw connections do not have to have very narrow tolerances and no high-strength screws are required.

Annular flange segments are welded to the front of the pipe segment on the respective end edges of the shells, which serve as an adapter to a foundation, further pipe segments or a (structurally existing) pipe tower structure and in particular a wind turbine tower.

The welding on of the annular flange segments and the folded flanges practically results in a certain distance between the horizontal annular flanges and the vertical folded flanges, since the annular flange segments have to be welded onto the end edges of the folded shells. These resulting openings, which point outwards when the towers are fully assembled, are sealed with special plastic elements that are molded on for this purpose.

The shells are then transported to the construction site and assembled there to form a tubular tower structure and connected to one another through the flanges.

For example, a lower tower is formed from a plurality of 7 m long pipe segments, these pipe segments each consisting of a plurality of 7 m long corresponding shells.

Since normal wind energy tower structures have a base diameter of 4.3 m, but the substructure towers have diameters of up to 7 m and more for reasons of stability, the base diameter must be adjusted from 7 m to a head diameter of 4.3 m via the height of the substructure tower.

On the one hand, this can be achieved in that the individual tube segments run conically, i. H. have a truncated cone shape, so that the substructure tower tapers uniformly from, for example, 7 m to, for example, 4.3 m.

According to the invention, however, it has been found that a particularly stable substructure tower is also achieved if the substructure tower is erected from cylindrical tube segments with a height of, for example, 7 m and then a last adapter element or adapter tube segment is placed on the head side, which extends from 7 m Base diameter tapered to 4.3 m head diameter and in this respect results in a truncated cone on the otherwise cylindrical tubular tower structure.

According to the invention, a torsion compensation ring is arranged between the pipe segments or the horizontal, L-shaped flanges of the pipe segments. The torsion compensation ring according to the invention ensures that when the tower is subject to torsional loads, the power flow passes from one L-flange to the other the respective screws runs optimally, in that all L-flanges of the respective shells are activated and thus an equalization takes place. This ensures the excellent stability and low natural frequency of the tower.

The advantage of the invention is that the flanges and the edging of the flanges with the tubular tower structure wall is extremely precise and verifiably accurate. It is also advantageous that the bending, screwing, horizontal welding and subsequent separation of the tubular tower structure into the shell elements can be carried out under comprehensible conditions at the place of manufacture, with a corresponding verification being able to take place at the place of manufacture.

It has been found that the vibration behavior or natural vibration behavior of tubular tower structures according to the invention at 0.215 Hz and below exceeds all expectations and is particularly well damped.

In addition, it has been found that the method according to the invention, according to which the flanges are bent inwards or outwards from the shells, results in greater stability than with longitudinal flanges that are welded to the longitudinal joint surface.

Figur 1:

eine isometrische, schematische Ansicht eines erfindungsgemäßen Rohrturmbauwerks;

Figur 2:

eine Seitenansicht des Rohrturmbauwerks nach Fig. 1;

Figur 3:

ein Querschnitt durch ein erfindungsgemäßes Rohrturmbauwerk mit gedreht angeordnetem Adapterelement, so dass die Flansche fluchtend dargestellt sind;

Figur 4:

einen Schnitt B-B gemäß Fig. 3;

Figur 5:

einen Schnitt G-G gemäß Fig. 3;

Figur 6:

einen Schnitt C-C gemäß Fig. 3;

Figur 7:

einen Schnitt F-F gemäß Fig. 6;

Figur 8:

einen Schnitt E-E gemäß Fig. 9;

Figur 9:

einen Schnitt D-D gemäß Fig. 6;

Figur 10:

eine teilgeschnittene Ansicht im Stoßbereich zweier Rohrsegmente mit dem erfindungsgemäßen Torsionsausgleichsring;

Figur 11:

einen Schnitt durch den Stoßbereich zwischen zwei Rohrsegmenten mit dem zwischen den L-Flanschen angeordneten Torsionsausgleichsring;

Figur 12:

eine perspektivische Detailansicht der Anordnung von Torsionsausgleichsringsegmenten zwischen den L-Flanschen;

Figur 13:

eine weitere Ausführungsform eines erfindungsgemäßen Rohrturmbauwerk aus einem unteren und einem oberen Rohrsegment mit Schalen und einer Türschale zusammengesetzt;

Figur 14:

eine Teilschale aus einem unteren Rohrsegment eines Rohrturmbauwerks nach Fig. 13;

Figur 15:

eine weitere Teilschale aus einem unteren Rohrsegment des Rohrturmbauwerks nach Fig. 13;

Figur 16:

eine Teilschale aus einem oberen Rohrsegment des Rohrturmbauwerks nach Fig. 13;

Figur 17:

eine Teilschale aus einem oberen Rohrsegment des Rohrturmbauwerks nach Fig. 13;

Figur 18:

eine modular aufgebaute Türschale eines Rohrturmbauwerks nach Fig. 13;

Figur 19:

die schmale Teilschale aus dem Fußbereich der Türschale;

Figur 20:

eine weitere Teilschale aus der Türschale;

Figur 21:

ein Adapterstück;

Figur 22:

einen Torsionsring;

Figur 23:

eine zusammengesetzte Schale eines unteren Rohrsegments;

Figur 24:

eine zusammengesetzte Schale eines oberen Rohrsegments;

Figur 25:

die schmale Teilschale der Türschale mit Flanschen;

Figur 26:

die Türteilschale;

Figur 27:

eine zusammengesetzte Schale.

The invention is explained by way of example with reference to a drawing. They show:

Figure 1:

an isometric, schematic view of a tubular tower structure according to the invention;

Figure 2:

a side view of the tubular tower structure 1 ;

Figure 3:

a cross section through a tubular tower structure according to the invention with a rotated adapter element, so that the flanges are shown aligned;

Figure 4:

a cut according to BB 3 ;

Figure 5:

a cut according to GG 3 ;

Figure 6:

a cut according to CC 3 ;

Figure 7:

according to a section FF 6 ;

Figure 8:

a cut according to EE 9 ;

Figure 9:

a cut according to DD 6 ;

Figure 10:

a partially sectional view in the joint area of two pipe segments with the torsion compensation ring according to the invention;

Figure 11:

a section through the joint area between two pipe segments with the torsion compensation ring arranged between the L-flanges;

Figure 12:

a detailed perspective view of the arrangement of torsion compensation ring segments between the L-flanges;

Figure 13:

a further embodiment of a tubular tower structure according to the invention composed of a lower and an upper tube segment with shells and a door shell;

Figure 14:

a partial shell from a lower tubular segment of a tubular tower structure 13 ;

Figure 15:

another partial shell from a lower tubular segment of the tubular tower structure 13 ;

Figure 16:

a partial shell from an upper tubular segment of the tubular tower structure 13 ;

Figure 17:

a partial shell from an upper tubular segment of the tubular tower structure 13 ;

Figure 18:

a modular door shell of a tubular tower structure 13 ;

Figure 19:

the narrow partial shell from the foot area of the door shell;

Figure 20:

another partial shell from the door shell;

Figure 21:

an adapter piece;

Figure 22:

a torsion ring;

Figure 23:

a composite shell of a lower tubular segment;

Figure 24:

a composite shell of an upper tube segment;

Figure 25:

the narrow partial shell of the door shell with flanges;

Figure 26:

the door part shell;

Figure 27:

a composite shell.

A tubular tower structure 1 according to the invention is in particular a substructure tower for existing wind energy tower constructions and has a head area 2 on which another tubular tower structure and in particular a wind energy tower can be placed.

In addition, the tubular tower structure 1 according to the invention has a foot area 3 with which the tubular tower structure can be arranged on a foundation.

The possible diameters of the tubular tower structure in the foot area are 7 m to 8 m, but can also be significantly larger.

The diameter of the tubular tower structure 1 in the head area 2 is determined by the diameter of a tubular tower structure to be attached, in particular a wind energy tower, and is usually 4.3 m, but can also be higher or lower if necessary.

The tubular tower structure 1 according to the invention is formed from at least one tubular segment 4 or from a plurality of axially consecutive tubular segments 4 .

In one embodiment of the tubular tower structure 1 ( Figures 1 to 12 ) the pipe segments 4 are cylindrical, tubular and have a diameter which corresponds to the diameter of the tubular tower structure 1 .

In this embodiment of the tubular tower structure 1, the uppermost tubular segment 4 is designed in the shape of a truncated cone, extending from a tubular segment foot region 5 to a tubular segment head region 6 from the diameter of the foot area 3 of the tubular tower structure 1 to the diameter in the head area 2 of the tubular tower structure 1 tapers.

This means that the uppermost pipe segment 4 is the only one of the pipe segments of the tubular tower structure 1 that is designed in the shape of a truncated cone, while the remaining pipe segments 4 are designed in a cylindrical manner.

Since the individual pipe segments 4 have a diameter that is larger than a pipe diameter that would still be logistically tolerable, ie transportable (bridge height, road width), the pipe segments 4 are designed to be dismountable or assembleable. For this purpose, each tube segment 4 is formed from a plurality of shells 7 .

A shell 7 extends over part of the circumference of the pipe segment 4 and over the axial length of the pipe segment 4, so that a pipe segment 4 is formed by arranging a plurality of shells 7 in the circumferential direction.

The shells 7 are thus designed in cross-section as ring segments with a ring-segment-shaped curved lateral surface 8 and thus have axially running longitudinal edges 9 and horizontally running end edges 10 ( 2 ).

The lateral surface 8 of the shells 7 is not bent into this shape in order to achieve a circular ring segment shape, but is correspondingly folded with a plurality of folding steps. This results in a plurality of flat surfaces 8a, which are formed at an angle to one another along folded edges 8b. Depending on the width of the shell, a number of 5 to 30 flat surfaces 8a is aimed for.

Ultimately, the number of surfaces 8a and thus also the edges 8b is determined by the number of shells 7 on the one hand and the circumference of the tower on the other hand, since a circular ring is to be approximated by the surface 8a.

The stability of the shells, and thus of the tower, and the low natural frequency of the tower is positively influenced by a plurality of surfaces 8a and edges 8b, so that the entire tower does not just consist of a polygon with, for example, ten corners, or each individual shell does not just consist of a polygon with two or three bending edges.

The width of the individual surfaces 8a is also dependent on the width of the entire shell 7, the individual surfaces 8a each being formed at an angle of between 1° and 8°, in particular 3° and 6° to one another. The respective folding angle of the surfaces 8a to each other depends on the number of surfaces 8a and the width of the shell 7 and of course the number of shells 7 and the circumference of the tower, since the surfaces divide the entire circumference of the shell 7 and thus the individual folding angles represent a corresponding fraction of the Total angle of the circumference of the shell 7 are.

From the longitudinal edges 9, radially running longitudinal flanges 11 extend in one piece from the lateral surface 8 to the inside or outside of the pipe of the longitudinal flanges 11 of adjacent shells 7 with one another.

The longitudinal flanges each have a respective axial front edge 11a that is spaced a little axially from the axial front edges 10 of the shell 7, for example with a step 11b.

Due to the thickness of the material and the strong inward fold, the longitudinal flanges 11 have a fold radius 11c relative to the lateral surface 8 of the shell 7 .

The shells 7 are preferably made of steel and have a thickness of more than 26 mm, in particular more than 40 mm to 100 mm, which is suitable for use as a substructure tower for existing wind energy tower constructions.

In order to be able to arrange a plurality of pipe segments 4 one on top of the other, or to arrange the lowest pipe segment 4 on a foundation, the respective shells 7 of the pipe segments 4 have horizontal flanges 13 which are butt-jointed and in particular welded on along their end edges 10 and are L-shaped in cross-section a lower shell foot 30 in the assembled state and an upper shell head 31 in the assembled state are formed.

The horizontal flanges 13 themselves each form a corresponding ring segment of a length which corresponds to the width of a shell 7 over its lateral surface 8 including the thickness of the longitudinal flanges 11 . This causes the horizontal flanges 13 of the respective shells 7 to form a closed ring after the pipe segment 4 has been assembled, with the abutting edges 14 of the horizontal flanges 13 abutting ( 4 ).

Accordingly, in order to form a pipe segment 4, a plurality of shells 7, e.g. B. eight shells 7, arranged with a given width over their lateral surface 8 and the corresponding longitudinal flanges 11 to each other, the holes 12 penetrated by corresponding connecting means and the flanges are connected to each other.

Accordingly, the horizontal flanges 13 of the interconnected shells form a flange ring from the horizontal flanges 13.

In order to arrange two pipe segments 4 next to one another, the pipe segments 4 with their horizontal flanges 13 and bores 12 in the horizontal flanges 13 are placed one on top of the other in alignment.

According to the invention, it was found that placing the horizontal flanges 13 directly on top of one another means that torsional stresses within the tubular tower structure 1 are not reliably transmitted and the flow of forces is not optimal in many places or is interrupted.

According to the invention, it was recognized that the arrangement of a torsion ring 15 between the flange rings from the horizontal flanges 13 leads to an activation of all individual horizontal flanges 13 and to an even load input into the corresponding screw bolts 16 . As a result, the tubular tower structure according to the invention has a particularly low natural frequency and high stability.

The torsion ring 15 is a ring with an outer diameter which corresponds approximately to the outer diameter of the flange ring from the horizontal flanges 13 and with an inner diameter which also corresponds to the inner diameter of the flange ring from the horizontal flanges 13 approximately.

The torsion ring 15 has a thickness that corresponds to approximately one third to two thirds of its width, ie the difference between the inside and outside diameters, although the thickness value essentially depends on static calculations and can also deviate therefrom.

Depending on the diameter of the tubular tower structure 1, the torsion ring 15 can be designed in one piece; in the case of large diameters of the tubular tower structure 1, it can also be designed in several parts.

In order to achieve a particularly good load distribution, the dividing lines 17 of the torsion ring 15 are arranged in such a way that they are not in the area of the abutting edges 14 of the horizontal flanges 13 .

In addition, to achieve a particularly good load distribution and a particularly good activation of the individual horizontal flanges 13, the torsion ring can be halved in terms of thickness in the region of its separations, so that a step 18 is formed ( 12 ), So that the torsion ring 15 or corresponding torsion ring segments 15 in this area z. B. are semi-tapered. In order to bridge the abutting edge 14 or the dividing line 17, a corresponding bridging element 19 can accordingly be present, which bridges the one central dividing line 17 and creates two dividing lines 20 spaced apart from the dividing line 17 ( 12 ). Correspondingly, the corresponding bores for screw bolts 16 are also present in the bridging element.

The torsion ring 15 can be formed from a plurality of torsion ring segments, wherein the number of torsion ring segments can correspond to the number of shells 7, but can also be higher or lower. It is essential that the longitudinal edges 9 of the shells 7 and the abutting edges 14 of the horizontal flanges 13 on the one hand and the dividing lines 17 of the torsion ring segments on the other hand are offset from one another, ie not aligned.

In a further advantageous embodiment, the tubular tower structure is of essentially conical design overall (FIGS. 13 to 27). In the case of a tubular tower structure 1 that tapers continuously from the base region 3 to the head region 2 and is therefore conical, the individual tube segments 4 are also of conical design, so that their diameter decreases from a tube segment base region 5 to a tube segment head region 6, so that each tube segment 4 forms a truncated cone. Accordingly, the shells 7 are then designed as truncated cone segments.

Accordingly, the shells 7 are also wider in a foot area 30 and narrower in a head area 31, so that the lateral surfaces 8 have conical tube segments 4 and an overall conical tower ( 19 ) result.

In this case, the tubular tower structure or different tube segments 4a, 4b of the tubular tower structure can be formed from differently designed partial shells 7a, 7b, 70, 71, 72.

In this tubular tower structure 1, the shells 7 of the tube segments 4a, which are installed in a base region 3 of the tubular tower structure, are designed differently from the shells 7, which are installed in the region of an upper tube segment 4b.

The pipe segments 4a, 4b can each consist of shells 7 or z. B. two axially adjacent partial shells 7a, 7b can be formed, wherein the partial shells 7a, 7b along common abutting end edges 10 are welded together.

The partial shells 7a, 7b, which are installed in an upper tube segment 4b ( figures 15 , 16 ), are due to the taper of the Tower overall narrower, so that the partial shells 7a, 7b of the lower tube segment 4a differ from those of the tube segment 4b also by the number of flat surfaces 8a bent towards one another or their folded edges 8b.

In the area of the lower tube segment 4a, the partial shells 7a, 7b have, for example, ten folded flat surfaces 8a, while in the area of the upper tube segment 4b there are only five to six surfaces 8a, for example.

As already stated, the partial shells 7a, 7b of a respective pipe segment are welded directly to one another and are not connected to one another via flanges.

Nevertheless, these partial shells 7a, 7b can also be connected to one another via flanges (not shown).

Correspondingly, torsion rings 15 (not shown) can then also be arranged between these flanges.

According to the invention, a corresponding tubular tower structure 1 is constructed in a modular manner, in particular as a substructure tower for existing wind turbine structures, with the structure being arranged with a flange ring 60 on a foundation in the foot area 3, from which the corresponding partial shells 7a, 7b are screwed along their longitudinal flanges 11 until to a torsion ring 15 extend axially. The partial shells 7a, 7b thus result in a shell 7.

In an area in which a door is to be provided in the substructure, a modular construction is carried out, with a shell 7 being modularly formed in this area from a first narrow partial shell section 70, on which a door section 71 is placed axially, with the door section 71 in the Substantially has the cross section of a shell 7, but a door opening 71a is provided.

A partial shell 72 is arranged axially adjoining this, the partial shell 72 extending axially by the length of a partial shell 7a, reduced by the height of section 70 and door section 71, and optionally a partial shell 7b adjoining axially.

The narrow partial shell section 70, which spaced the door section 71 from the foot area 3 or the connection to a foundation, has a height which is approximately the internal height of a soil introduced into the tower and/or an embankment from the outside, so that the door or the door section 71 can initially be omitted when erecting the tower and access to the interior of the tower at ground level is made possible with a considerably larger entrance cross section, so that large installations (elevator, etc.) can be introduced.

The bolted and flat, straight flanged construction allows a door section 71 to be removed or inserted at any time.

On the lower tube segment 4a and the upper tube segment 4b, a truncated cone 80 ( 20 ) is fitted, which has a base-side flange 81 and a head-side flange 82, the base-side flange 81 optionally being formed via a torsion ring with a head-side flange of the second pipe segment 4b and a conventional wind energy tower construction optionally via a further torsion ring (not shown) with the head-side flange 82 can be screwed.

A complete shell 7 of a first tube segment ( 22 ) has a horizontal flange 13 welded to a lower partial shell 7a in the manner already described and a horizontal flange 13 welded to the front side of the upper partial shell 7b. The lower horizontal edge of the upper partial shell 7b is flush with an upper horizontal edge 10 of the lower partial shell 7a butt welded. Since the longitudinal flanges 11 are set back axially from the horizontal edges 10 with a step 11b, as already stated, free spaces 11d are created in these areas and in the area of the horizontal flanges 13, which are closed by plastic elements (not shown) after completion of the construction.

The shells 7 of the upper tube segment 4b are designed in the same way (same parts are provided with the same reference numbers) ( 23 ).

The number of axially consecutive pipe segments 4 is dependent on the planned height of the substructure tower and on the axial length of the pipe segments. The number is therefore not limited to two pipe segments, but can range from just one pipe segment to a large number of pipe segments, with the conicity of the individual segment(s) having to be adapted to the overall conicity of the substructure tower and thus also the respective head and base diameter.

Likewise, the number of partial shells is not fixed at two, nor is the axial length ratio of the partial shells to one another. It can be a one-piece shell or a shell that is formed from a large number of partial shells that follow one another in the axial direction.

The advantage of the invention is that a tubular tower structure 1 from tubular sections 4, which are cylindrical and/or conical, is produced entirely in a corresponding fabrication facility. Under predetermined conditions, which allow the smallest tolerances, flanges that extend longitudinally or axially are bent outwards or inwards from the lateral surface and the tubular tower structure is thereby subdivided by at least two partial shells, preferably several partial shells, in particular four to fourteen partial shells, which are easy to transport, even on roads.

The partial shells are (again) connected to one another at an erection site of the tubular tower structure, and this is done in a particularly simple manner, since the partial shells are matched to one another with an absolutely precise fit. In contrast to conventional construction concepts, in which such a tubular tower is assembled and welded from individual, ready-welded pipe segments, the assembly of such a large tubular tower structure can take place in a fraction of the assembly time, with a tubular tower structure with a very large diameter, especially diameters at the base > 7 m, can be realized. In addition, the flat, straight flanges make assembly easy.

In particular, it is advantageous that with such a tubular tower structure, a very high substructure for known tubular towers that carry wind turbines can be created in a simple, inexpensive and quick-to-assemble manner, so that conventional wind turbines can be brought higher into the wind and thus improve their effectiveness can be increased.

It is also advantageous that the combination of relatively thick steel sheets curved by beveling on the one hand, beveled flanges on the other hand and flange connections with a torsion ring results in a tubular tower structure 1 with a very low natural frequency, which excellently dissipates the loads introduced by a tubular tower structure placed on top . The advantage of the torsion ring 15 according to the invention between the horizontal flanges 13 is that this enables all horizontal flanges 13 of all shells 7 and in particular all bolts 16 to be ideally activated.

Both the longitudinal flanges and the horizontal flanges can be connected with screws or screw bolts, rivets, screws with compression sleeves or locking ring bolts.

Advantageously, the number of shells 7 can be between two and fourteen shells or more, depending on the diameter of the tubular tower structure, with base diameters of 4 m to 14 m and head diameters of 2.5 m to 10 m being easily realizable.

The height of a tubular tower structure 1 according to the invention can also depend on the required or desired hub height of the entire tubular tower structure, i. H. including an attached wind energy tower, vary, with heights of the tubular tower structure 1 according to the invention of 7 m to 30 m being customary, but heights above this also do not pose a problem. At a low height, for example 7 m, a single, in this case conical or truncated tube segment is used.

The combination of folded lateral surfaces, folded longitudinal flanges, sheet thickness, horizontal flanges and the torsion ring arranged between the horizontal flanges results overall in the high stability of the tubular tower structure according to the invention.

In contrast to concrete substructure towers, the tubular tower structure according to the invention is also advantageous in that it is considerably cheaper than concrete towers and can be dismantled particularly well when the planned period of use has expired.

Reference list:

1

tubular tower structure

2

header area

3

footer

4

pipe segment

4a

lower pipe segment

4b

upper pipe segment

5

pipe segment footer

6

Pipe Segment Header

7

Peel

7a

partial shell

7b

partial shell

8th

lateral surface

8a

flat surface

8b

bevel edge

9

long edge

10

front edge

11

longitudinal flange

11a

front edge

11b

Step

11c

bend radius

11d

free spaces

12

bore/opening

13

horizontal flange

14

bumper edge

15

torsion ring

16

bolts

17

parting line

18

Step

19

bridging element

20

parting line

30

Cup foot/foot area

31

shell head/header

60

flange ring

70

partial shell section

71

door section

71a

doorway

72

partial shell

80

truncated cone

81

foot flange

82

head flange

Claims (13)

1. Method for erecting a tubular tower structure, in particular a substructure tower for existing wind energy tower structures, wherein

   - shells (7) which have a cross-section substantially in the shape of a circular arc are formed from steel plates, wherein - along each planned axial connecting line, an axial longitudinal flange (11) of the shell (7) is created by bending radially inwards or outwards from the shell (7), wherein

   - to erect the tubular tower structure (1), the shells (7) are arranged next to each other by means of the longitudinal flanges (11) of adjoining shells (7), and are connected by the longitudinal flanges (11) of adjoining shells (7) to form a tubular segment (4), wherein connecting means (16) engage through holes (12) of adjoining longitudinal flanges (11), wherein

   - the circular arc curvature of the shells (7) is created by a plurality of angular bends along the circumference, thereby forming a plurality of surfaces (8a) arranged sequentially one after the other in the circumferential direction, angled with respect to each other, characterised in that

   - for connecting a tubular segment (4) to a foundation or to a further tubular segment (4), or to a further tubular tower structure, in a tubular segment base region (5) and/or in a tubular segment top region (6), each of the shells (7) comprises, on a horizontal end face (10), a horizontal flange (13) which has at least one abutting edge (14),

   wherein
   the surfaces (8a) are each bent at an angle of between 1° and 8°, in particular 3° and 6°, with respect to each other,

   wherein
   the steel plates for producing the shells (7) have a thickness of 20 mm to 100 mm, in particular 40 mm to 100 mm.
2. Method according to claim 1, characterised in that the shells (7) are formed from a plurality of axially adjoining, axially sequentially arranged, partial shells (7a, 7b) which are welded to each other, wherein the horizontal flanges (13) of the shells (7) are connected to each other with connecting pieces to form a ring.
3. Method according to any of the preceding claims, characterised in that, to form a tubular segment (4), four to sixteen shells (7), are arranged next to each with a given width via their peripheral surfaces (8) and the corresponding longitudinal flanges (11), wherein, for the purpose of arranging a plurality of tubular segments (4) next to each other, the horizontal flanges (13) and/or flange rings formed by the flanges (13) are arranged with their holes aligned with each other, wherein a torsion ring (15) which spaces the horizontal flanges (13) from each other is inserted between the horizontal flanges (13) to improve the load input into the connecting means (16), and the torsion ring (15) is a ring with an outer diameter which corresponds approximately to the outer diameter of the flange ring made up of the horizontal flanges (13), and is designed with an inner diameter which also corresponds approximately to the inner diameter of the flange ring made up of the horizontal flanges (13), wherein the torsion ring (15) has axial holes that correspond to the holes in the flange rings.
4. Method according to claim 3, characterised in that the torsion ring has a thickness which corresponds to approximately from one third to two thirds of its width, wherein the torsion ring (15) is constructed as a single piece or in segments, and the torsion ring (15) - for a segmented construction - is arranged in such a way that the abutting edge and/or dividing line (17) of the torsion ring (15) is offset from the abutting edges (14) of the horizontal flanges (13).
5. Method according to any of the preceding claims, characterised in that the flange pairs and/or the flanges of adjoining shells (7) are connected with screw bolts, rivets, screws with compression sleeves, or locking ring bolts.
6. Method according to any of the preceding claims, characterised in that the tubular tower structure (1) has a first diameter at one axial end and a second diameter at an opposite axial end, the first diameter being larger than the second diameter, such that the tubular tower structure (1) has a conical structure, wherein a tower of a wind turbine generator can be placed onto and fastened to the region of the tubular tower structure with the lesser diameter, and has a base diameter of 4 m to 14 m and a top diameter of 2.5 m to 10 m, and the tubular tower structure (1) is formed from at least one cylindrical tubular segment (4) and one truncated cylindrical tubular segment (4) placed thereon, and the tubular tower structure (1) is formed from at least one conical tubular segment (4).
7. Method according to any of the preceding claims, characterised in that a plurality of flat surfaces (8a) is formed by means of a plurality of bending steps, wherein a number of from 5 to 30 flat surfaces (8a) is formed, depending on the width of the shell (7), wherein each of the bend angles of the surfaces (8a) with respect to each other depends on the number of surfaces (8a) and the width of the shell (7), on the one hand, and the number of shells (7) and the total tower circumference, on the other hand, wherein the surfaces (8a) are subdivisions of the circumferential angle of the shell (7), and accordingly the individual bend angles form a corresponding fraction of the total angle of the circumference of the shell (7).
8. Method according to any of the preceding claims, characterised in that, for the installation of a door in the tubular tower structure (1), a shell (7) is constructed in a modular manner in this region, the corresponding shell (7) having a door portion (71) which is inserted axially between partial shells (70, 72), and the door portion (71) has longitudinal flanges (11) with which it is detachably arranged on adjoining shells (7), wherein the door section (71) has a horizontal flange (13) in both its base region and in its top region, which can be detachably connected to corresponding horizontal flanges (13) of partial shells (70, 72) arranged axially above and below.
9. Tubular tower structure erected using a method according to any of claims 1 to 8,
   wherein

   the tubular tower structure (1) has at least one tubular segment (4), the tubular segment (4) being formed from a plurality of shells (7) having the shape of a circular arc in cross-section, wherein the shells (7) have peripheral surfaces (8) formed in the shape of a circular arc, and have longitudinal edges (9) running longitudinally and/or axially, and end faces (10) running horizontally,

   wherein longitudinal flanges (11) extend radially from the longitudinal edges (9) as an integral, bent part from the peripheral surface (8) to the interior or exterior of the tubular tower structure (1) from the peripheral surface (8), wherein

   the peripheral surface (8) is designed as a segment of a circle from a plurality of flat surfaces (8a) which are bent at an angle to each other and together form the segment of a circle, wherein the shells (7) are arranged with the longitudinal flanges (11) abutting each other, wherein connecting means (16) engage through holes (12) of adjoining longitudinal flanges (11), characterised in that

   each of the surfaces (8a) is bent at an angle with respect to each other of between 1° and 8°, in particular 3° and 6°, wherein the steel plates for producing the shells (7) have a thickness of 20 mm to 100 mm, in particular 40 mm to 100 mm, and in that

   for connecting a plurality of tubular segments (4) and/or for arranging the lowest tubular segment (4) of the tubular tower structure (1) on a foundation, or for arranging a tubular tower structure on the uppermost tubular segment (4), the shells (7) of the tubular segments (4) are brought into abutment with each other along their end faces (10), and have horizontal flanges (13) which, in particular, are welded-on, and are L-shaped in cross-section.
10. Tubular tower structure according to claim 9, wherein the horizontal flanges (13) of each of the shells (7) connected to each other form a closed ring after the tubular segment (4) has been assembled from the shells (7).
11. Tubular tower structure according to any of claims 9 or 10, characterised in that, for the connection of tubular segments (4) to each other or the uppermost tubular segment (4) to a tubular tower structure above, the tubular segments (4) are arranged one above the other with their flanges (13) and the corresponding holes (12) aligned, wherein the horizontal flanges (13) are spaced apart from each other by a torsion ring (15) which is arranged between the flange rings made of the horizontal flanges (13) and which has holes aligned with the holes (12), such that, for connecting the flanges to each other, the flanges and the torsion ring are connected to each other.
12. Tubular tower structure according to any of claims 9 to 11, characterised in that the tubular segments (4) are conical and/or cylindrical, such that the shells (7) are designed in the manner of a cylinder jacket segment or a truncated cone jacket segment, wherein the tubular tower structure (1) and/or different tubular segments (4a, 4b) of the tubular tower structure (1) are formed from differently designed partial shells (7a, 7b, 70, 71, 72), and the shells (7) of the tubular segments (4a) which are installed in a base region (3) of the tubular tower structure (1) differ from the shells (7) that are installed in regions of an upper tubular segment (4b), wherein the partial shells (7a, 7b) that are installed in an upper tubular segment (4b) are narrower overall because of the narrowing of the tubular tower structure (1), such that the partial shells (7a, 7b) of the lower tubular segment (4a) differ from those of the upper tubular segment (4b) also due to the number of flat surfaces (8a) which are bent at an angle to each other and/or the number of the bent edges (8b), wherein, in the region of the lower tubular segment (4a), the partial shells (7a, 7b) have 10 to 20 bent, flat surfaces (8a), whereas, in the region of the upper tubular segment (4b), 3 to 10 surfaces (8a), in particular 5 to 6 surfaces (8a), are present.
13. Tubular tower structure according to any of claims 9 to 12, characterised in that the tubular segments (4, 4a, 4b) are formed from the shells (7) extending over the axial length of the tubular segment (4, 4a, 4b) or from two or more axially adjoining partial shells (7a, 7b), wherein the partial shells (7a, 7b) are welded to each other along mutually adjoining end faces (10), wherein the complete shell (7) of a first tubular segment (4a) has a horizontal flange (13) welded to a lower partial shell (7a) and a horizontal flange (13) welded to the end face of the upper partial shell (7b), wherein the upper partial shell (7b) is welded with a lower, horizontally-running edge abutting flush with an upper, horizontally running edge (10) of the lower partial shell (7a), and the longitudinal flanges (11) of the shells (7) are designed to be set back a small amount axially from the horizontal edges (10), such that free spaces (11d) are formed between partial shells (7a, 7b) or shells (7) and horizontal flanges (13) which are welded to each other, or partial shells (7a, 7b) and horizontal flanges (13) which are welded to each other, wherein the free spaces (11d) are closed off by fitting elements made of plastic or the like.

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